Stage 6 - Squamish!!!!

Stage 6 -  Squamish

Squamish was my favorite stage.  All stages were good, but this one stood out for its awesome descents.  This stage was 48km with over 1,700m of climbing -  the most climbing of all the stages.  After two not so great days with a flat tire and mechanicals, I was itching to put in a good ride.  After installing a new fixed seat post, it was time to roll!

The ride started with a short pavement section before hitting some fast rolling BC singletrack.  The singletrack quickly started climbing and climbing and climbing.  Some sections on the singletrack were pretty steep.  Despite some strong efforts in these sections, I really didn't gain any time on the riders ahead of me in the GC standings.  The good news was I knew I was ahead of many of the riders who I was riding (or battling) with in the prior stages.

After the singletrack sections, we hit a rather short section of gravel road.  For some reason, I always seemed to ride really strong on the gravel roads.  This is where I made up some positions and time.  Maybe it was all the training on the steep fire roads in the Santa Ana mountains...who knows.  Anyway, I passed a few riders right before we hit the descent.

The first descent was the famous Half Nelson trail.  This trail was super fun and fast, but it wasn't very technical at all.  It was similar to a "flow" trail at a bike park (think "Crank it up" at Whistler).  Needless to say, I wasn't "airing it out" over the jumps, but I'd venture to say that I hit more features than most other riders.

After another short climb on a gravel road, it was time for the first Enduro -  Pseudo Tsuga.  This trail was my least favorite for the day.  It was like descending Trabuco or Holy Jim.  From what I recall, I paced a rider in-front of me while recovering for the much more technical second Enduro for the day -  Powerhouse Plunge.

The Powerhouse Plunge is apparently well known for being very technical and there are a few local races that just race this section of trail ("Test of Metal"???).  Yes, it was more technical but nothing too crazy.  I don't recall any sections really causing too much trouble.

Next up for the descending was MY FAVORITE TRAIL ALL WEEK -  Hoods in the Woods.  This trail was incredible.  When I dream about riding in BC again, I think of this trail.  This trail was the most technical of all the descents of the day.  It didn't get as much attention because it wasn't an Enduro stage (I got the feeling the race organizers intentionally didn't put the rowdiest terrain in the Enduro sections for safety reasons).  This trail was magical.  There were drops, roots, rocks, ladders, skinnies, and it was steep in sections.  At this point in the race Sam Whittingham who I'd been racing with all week was behind me.  First instinct - more gas, less brakes.  I was working really hard on this trail knowing we were getting close to the finish and that we only had one more day left to go.  In the end,  all my hard work and decent riding put a very small gap on Sam....like maybe 1-2 seconds at the most!

The rest of the course had some short steep singletrack climbs before dropping us back into Squamish.  As for racing with Sam, he passed me a few other riders after one rider decided to walk a section.  I was spent and never gave chase.  I think Sam ended up finishing a minute or so ahead of me.

Results:
Overall Stage -  25th (best finish all week)
Enduro #1 - 37th
Enduro #2 -  49th (ouch!)

The end of one of the Enduro stages.

I was glad to see this sign on many days.

Time to relax, but keep pedaling!

Louder please!!

Jannice and her new friends out on course to cheer us on!  I didn't even see them!

Shenanigans

Way to stick out the tongue Jeff...

Still smiling from the ride!

Daily yoga with Ryan Leech.

Trying to update the blog...but I'm so tired!

Stage 5 - Sechelt to Langdale

Stage 5 -  Sechelt to Langdale

Stage 5 was the second point-to-point stage.  It was 36 km with 1,400m of ascending, which was shorter than stage 4 but still a good amount of climbing.  This stage turned out to be the most trying stage for me.

The stage started with some undulating double track before a fairly long gravel road climb.  From there we entered a freshly cut singletrack trail.  This trail was tough.  It wasn't all that steep, but it was super loamy, wet, and had a good amount of tree roots.  Shortly into the singletrack section I noticed my seat was dropping.  Crap!  My initial thought was the cable needed to be adjusted after the bike mechanic fixed my seat post lever the night before.  I started cursing.  This was not an easy trail to be making adjustments while riding and I was in a train of about 40 riders.  Additionally, I was just starting to get warmed up for the day and my legs were really starting to push without too much pain.  After fiddling with the cable tension to no avail, I decided to just try to ride.  Then the seat would drop.   This happened about 10 times before I finally pulled over to try to completely disconnect the cable.
I completely disconnected the cable and the problem was still there.  Over 5 minutes had passed and many slower riders were now ahead of me.  My dropper seat post was officially toast.  With over 25 km to go, I didn't have much choice but to ride with it broken.  It was like riding a pogo stick.  The seat would drop with every bump on the trail.  This zapped a ton of energy out of me.  Thankfully, some of the climbing was on smoother gravel roads where it would stay up for the most part.

After 27 km, it was all downhill to the ferry port.  Riding these descents with my seat post up would be good training for the last two stages.  There were two Enduro stages thrown in for good fun.

When I crossed the finish line I knew my time for the stage was not good.  In hindsight, I wasn't aggressive enough in getting around the slower riders that passed me while I was fiddling with my seat post.  This caused me be to behind many slower riders on the long descent into the ferry port.  In the end, I finished in 36th place for the day; my worst finish.  I was not happy, but after passing one of the top riders running down the trail with a broken frame, I was thankful it wasn't worse.

That night I hitched a ride into Squamish to buy a fixed seat post for $25.  I carefully took the measurements of the position of the broken post and installed the new post.  After a quick test ride, I was ready for the stage 6.

Few laughs before the start.

Rocked out the Star Spangled Banner just before the start to commemorate 4th of July.

And we're rolling ...

Our new home, another spectacular view.

Stage 4 - Earls Cove to Sechelt

Stage 4 - Earls Cove to Sechelt

We woke up on the beautiful beach at Powell River on day 4 before catching a short ferry to Earls Cove.  Stage 4 was the first point-to-point course of the race.  It was also the longest route at 60+ km and conjured up a lot of climbing as well.  The race organizers told us this would be our longest day and it was..

The route started with some moderate climbing up a gravel road.  It then continued up the "power line" climb.  This climb had many short steep sections that had many riders walking.  To be honest, they were steep but nothing worse than the trails we ride in Laguna on a regular basis.  After the steep sections, climb continued for quite a few miles.  I was making up some good time on the climbs, even passing many riders who finished before me the previous days.  I remember passing duo teams pushing each other up the climbs.  At some point during the climb I noticed my dropper seatpost lever was broken.  The seat stayed in the up position, so it wasn't too big of a deal.  It would be an easy fix that evening, but it meant riding without the ability to lower the seatpost for the rest of the stage.

The stage ended with 15 km of nearly all downhill with two Enduro stages thrown in.  Just before I got to the summit, I was mashing and mashing up the last little steady grade when I heard a hissing from my rear tire.  Much to my dismay, my Racing Ralph with snakeskin had been sliced open by one of the many rocks on the trail.  Trying not to panic, I quickly put a tube in the tire and started to inflate it with my single large CO2 cartridge.  I was promised this cartridge would be enough to get a 29er tire up to 30 PSI.  I put all the air in the tire and by my guess it was still well below 20 PSI.  I immediately started to panic.  By this time all the riders I worked so hard to pass on the climb had strolled by me.  I realized I definitely couldn't ride the remaining of the course with that low of pressure as I would be sure to get a pinch flat.  I started asking fellow riders if they had a spare CO2 or a pump.  The first rider to pass -  Wade Simmons.  He only had a pump and was unwilling to stop (BTW -  he's the nicest guy ever and I don't blame him).  A few more riders passed before rider #254 tossed me a CO2.  I quickly filled up my tire and was rolling again.

The descents into Sechelt were incredible.  I was tip-toeing a little bit knowing that if I flatted again I would be in serious trouble.  Also, I was now behind many slower riders for the Enduro stages.  Oh well..  I made it down the mountain without issue and pushed where I could to make up lost time.  I finished the day in 34th, not too bad but still really frustrating.

Results:
Overall stage:  34th
Enduro #1:  51st
Enduro #2:  63rd

Dawn of a new day, the longest day yet.

Just five more minutes ...

So much for sleeping in. Time to pack up the Big Red (race bag) again.

 The sea of Big Reds.

Scenic short ferry ride.

Exhausting finish. 

I spent a lot of time riding with Sam Whittingham (pictured above).  We finished one spot away from each other on the first 3 stages.  Sam is the world record holder for being the fastest man on earth on a human-powered-vehicle!  He set the world record 16 years ago by riding a bike 83 MPH.  His record still stands today.  He was racing on one of his custom built 29er single speed bikes.  He's also the founder/owner of Naked bikes.  They're beautiful handmade bikes.  He has a wait list of over a year for one of his frames.

Stage 3 - Powell River

Stage 3 -  Powell River

The day started with a ferry crossing to reach the town of Powell River.  We had to wait at the ferry dock before boarding and many of us waded into the water to cool down the legs.  It felt really nice!  We arrived in Powell River to a town full of locals cheering us on as we walked to the starting line.  It was quite uplifting.  All the local shop owners came out to greet us and some even made us homemade cookies!  The start/finish line was right on the beach, alongside where we would be camping that night.  This was by far the best base camp location.  

Powell River was my second favorite stage.  The trails were truly majestic.  After two longer stages (1+2), stage 3 was shorter in distance and supposedly had less climbing.  Many riders (including myself) were looking forward to "taking it easy" on the slightly shorter course while preparing for a long stage 4 the next day.  Well, the stage was still tough despite being a tad shorter and I didn't end up taking it so "easy" either.

Words really can't describe how good the trails were in Powell River, so here's a video of first Enduro stage.  I got so excited to get around a rider and to have the open trail that blew a corner early on, and then proceed to ride unclipped in the pedals for way too long!

Results

Overall stage -  29th

Enduro #1 - 39th
Enduro #2 -  51st

Hmm...Cold water will make the legs feel better....don't mind if I do.

Ahh...Now this feels good!

Everyone resting and stretching on the ferry to Powell River.

Bagpipes!

 All the racers walking to the start line.  The entire town was out to greet us upon arrival.

After all the hoopla, we're ready to race!

Final moments before the race.  I think this is when they started playing Welcome to the Jungle!

Start line..

And we're off!  As a rather slow starter, I started near the back of our group each day.

Finished!

Here I'm thinking - "Man that was awesome!"

These are all the bikes that broke during the stage..

Dinner in Powell River was the best!  It was somewhat formal and romantic (candlelight dinner).  They had live music and served beer!

The bike mechanics would not sleep until every bike was fixed and ready to ride in the morning.  After they were done for the night, they slept on the ground right next to their work stand.  How dedicated!!

The breathtaking view right outside our tent.

Stage 2 - Cumberland

Stage 2 -  Campbell River

After a hot stage 1, many riders were hoping they recovered enough for what stage 2 had to offer.  The stage started off with a fast gravel road descent followed by a long climb.  The early climbing usually helped to sort all the riders out into the proper "riding order", but this was early in the overall race and there was still more testosterone than brains for some riders.  

After the climb was of the most technically challenging sections of trail in the entire race.  The trail was called "Box Lunch".  Many other racers read reviews of this trail and some were fairly nervous.  Box Lunch was very wet and muddy despite no rain in the preceding days.  This trail was very narrow and was pretty much entirely filled with tree roots and rocks.  There were riders dabbing and crashing at every section of roots.  People were constantly passing others only to crash themselves.  It became quite comical!  Actually, the funnest part was when two local women riders passed the train of riders I was in and most of the guys just watch in awe as they rode the most technical sections.  After this happened, some slower riders finally let us by and it was smooth sailing.  It was really tough to keep the mojo flowing with so much stopping and starting.

Here's a video of some of the chaos on Box Lunch.

The remaining trails of the course were really beautiful.  The Enduros were shorter and much less technical than stage 1.

Results:

Overall stage - 32nd

Enduro #1 - 55th

Enduro #2 -  27th

Post race photo with Andreas Hestler.

Fellow racer Justin Matthews from Australia and myself.  Justin and I rode together a lot.  He was on a single speed hardtail.  Prior to this race, Justin raced in the single speed world championships and the Australia national championships.  I could not believe how quick these guys were with no rear suspension and only one gear!

Unwinding and enjoying the beautiful sunset.